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CUSTOMER SERVICE MEMO CSTP0404

for 2004 Edition of HowardSoft's Tax Preparer®

Copying program and data to a new computer


Perspective. When you buy a new computer you may want to move your Tax Preparer programs and tax data from your old computer to your new computer. However, if you don't do it properly you may be unable to run the program or access the data. This memo provides recommendations and hints to ensure a trouble-free transfer.


Install all programs, oldest first. You may be tempted to use backup copies from your old computer to move Tax Preparer program files to your new computer, but this is totally improper for Windows versions of the program. You MUST install programs from the latest HowardSoft Program Disk for each tax year, installing the oldest editions first. This procedure is mandatory in order for your programs and on-screen manuals to appear in your list of Programs so that you can access them from the list or create desktop icons for them.*


Update installed programs from the web. The Program Disks that you install will almost certainly contain early releases of Tax Preparer for their respective tax seasons if they are 2002 or later editions because, starting with the 2002 edition, we posted mid-season updates to the original releases on the web, which most customers chose to use instead of requesting and waiting for a revised disk. It is therefore important that you update these editions on the web. The easiest way to do this is:

  • Start the 2004 Edition of Tax Preparer.
  • Click "Check for Updates" on the Tax Preparer Control Panel. Once you have reached our "Check for Updates" page, exit Tax Preparer by escaping from the main window in the normal way.
  • All downloads are accessible from the web page that first appears. This is the main web page for 2004 Editions. However, you must take care to download and execute the oldest editions first and, if you also have Partnership or California versions installed, download and execute the Partnership version first, California version second, and regular version last:
    • To access downloads for 2002 Editions, first click "2003 EDITION" on the HowardSoft menu bar that appears below the headings for the main web page. Next click "2002 EDITION" on the HowardSoft menu bar. All downloads for 2002 Editions (2001 tax year) appear on the next page. When done, return to the main "Check for Updates" web page.
    • To access downloads for 2003 Editions, first click "2003 EDITION" on the HowardSoft menu bar that appears below the headings for the main web page. Next click "DOWNLOADS" on the HowardSoft menu bar. All downloads for 2003 Editions (2002 tax year) appear on the next page. When done, return to the main "Check for Updates" web page.
    • To access downloads for 2004 Editions, find the yellow box titled "NEW RELEASES" on the main web page. You will see the latest releases listed for regular, California, and Partnership editions. You can access downloads for each of the three versions from this box, but be sure to choose Partnership first, California second, and regular last if you have more than one version installed.
  • Change Program Settings for each edition to reflect your preferences for the location of tax data, paid preparer information, and printer settings. (You must start each edition individually to do this because each edition carries its own settings.)

Copy tax data from the old computer last. You are now ready to copy your tax data to the new computer. We recommend that you copy all data to the folder where you installed Tax Preparer in the preceding steps, which is the folder \TAX unless you entered a folder name of your own during installation. If you follow this recommendation, you will never have to change the Storage Disk spec in Tax Preparer; it can remain blank.

  • If you choose to store your data in a folder other than where you installed Tax Preparer, you must create that folder on the new computer (using Windows Explorer, My Computer, or MS-DOS Prompt) before you can copy your tax data to it. However, you must use short filenames for the folders and refrain from using multiple sub-folders, as detailed in Customer Service Memo CSTP0403. (You can skip this step if you will follow our recommendation to store all tax data in the same folder as your Tax Preparer program.)
  • If you connect your old computer to your new computer electronically and use a program like LapLink to copy files from one computer to the other, you can do so now and you're done!
  • If you can copy all your old data to a single high-capacity disk, you can do so without any special backup program. However, be careful to copy ONLY files with names starting with TS, such as TS04IUSV.Z00 for the 2004 Edition. If you copy any other files you may damage your preceding installation of the Tax Preparer program(s) to the new computer. (Note that the number after TS always represents the edition year, which is one year later than the tax year.)
  • If you cannot copy all your data to a single disk you must be very careful to ensure that you copy ALL data files and NO program files. If you use a backup program, make sure that the new computer can read and decode the backup disks. If you copy files manually (using My Computer, Windows Explorer, or MS-DOS Prompt), make sure that you copy ALL data files starting with TS. For example, for data from the 2004 Edition (2003 tax year), you must have ALL of the following files (shown for the 1040 program):
    • ONE file named TS04IUSV.Z00. This file records the tax volumes created and the currently active volume. If this file is missing, you will not be able to access any tax data.**
    • Up to 99 files with names of the form TS04IUSR.Znn, where nn is a volume number from 01 to 99. If this file is missing for any volume, you will not be able to access any tax data for that volume.***
    • For each return, five files with names of the form TS04IUSa.bnn, where a is a letter D, I, L, M, or N, b is a letter from A to O that identifies one of 15 returns within a volume, and nn is a volume number from 01 to 99. If any of these files is missing, the return will be incomplete and often inaccessible. (Note that the I-file will not exist for a return if you never itemized to create a worksheet or general itemized list for the return. However, all other files must always exist.)

If you have trouble. If you encounter problems with the new installation, here are a few places to look for help:

  • If you have problems with printing in the new installation, see Customer Service Memos CSTP0401 and CSTP0402.
  • If you have problems accessing your tax data, see Customer Service Memos CSTP0403.
  • For all other problems or further help with topics in the memos, call HowardSoft Customer Service (1-858-454-0121).

* Unlike Windows versions, you can successfully install DOS versions from backup copies from the old computer as long as you do not omit any files. Nevertheless, we still recommend against it to ensure that no problems from the old computer are copied to the new computer.
** HowardSoft can reconstruct files of the type TS04IUSV.Z00 for you if you provide us with the list of volumes that you have created and the volume you want to be active when you start Tax Preparer.
*** HowardSoft can reconstruct files of the type TS04IUSR.Znn for you if you provide us with copies of all data files for volume nn. However, the effort may take some time and involve a fee if there is an appreciable amount of data.